Hon. Barbara A. Mikulski
Hon. Benjamin Cardin

Dear Senators,

Reuters has recently reported that Senator Cardin has authored legislation entitled “The Newspaper Revitalization act.”

I am writing to ask that that legislation be withdrawn or defeated.

The briefest on-line search discloses a plethora of well reasoned objections to the bill. To those I would add that this legislation demonstrates a disturbing assumption that the identification of and solution to every concern is the purview of government. It is on a level of arrogance with the assumption that congress can and should control the temperature of the planet (which I believe history will view as an hysteria not unlike that which spawned the Salem witch hunts and the purging of black cats from medieval Europe).

From an economic perspective - the papers should be allowed to fail in the market place. As tablets yielded to Chinese movable type and Gutenberg’s printing press, and as the horse and buggy yielded to the automobile, and sails on warships were replaced by steam and nuclear power, so the printed “news” paper should be allowed to morph in the face of newer communications technologies. If there is truly a need for printed news, a free market initiative will emerge to provide a solution.

From a political and philosophical perspective - do not the names Gobbles and Pravda have relevance to this issue? Has government ever fostered anything it did not ultimately mismanage and control?

I ask that you concentrate your considerable talents and energy on those issues which are the legitimate role of government, national safety and defense, the personal and property rights of citizens, and protection from the interference of government.

Sincerely,
Harry J. F. Korrell, Jr.